Ski Southeast Messageboard

Ran up to Ober today, it was crazy busy. Had to actually wait in line to get to the parking lot at 8:55am. That was a bad sign... it only got worse as the day went on.



The guns were on full blast until 10:30 or so, making conditions pretty nice. Lapped Mogul Ridge as the crowds jam packed the other slopes.



Discovered that my new helmet camera's batteries didn't like the cold weather, so I only got one short video of the upper half of Mogul Ridge:

Mogul Ridge POV from Patrick Lamb on Vimeo.



Here's a view of teh base area. As much as I like Ober, I will concede that they have the absolute worse base/beginner/learning area layout of any ski resort I've ever seen. Hopefully they will get lower Bear open soon and relieve some pressure on the area.



Crowded Base area Obergatlinburg 12.28.09 from Patrick Lamb on Vimeo.



I had all I could take by 1:30, and decided to leave. The crowds were still pouring in... this was the line to try and get in and find a parking spot. Keep in mind that the parking lots were full by 9:45am.



Cars! Cars! Cars! from Patrick Lamb on Vimeo.



Crazy busy... good for the resort, bad for locals. Pretty much what I expected.

Dang, lol. I'm headed up there this week - oh boy.

when the cars are lining up before any visible evidence of snow, you know it will be a bad day;



even so the first video was nice -- I have never traveled the necessarry miles to experience OBER but that early drop with less crowds looks good

Brad- get there early.



I'm a glutton for punishment so I'm about to hit the road again (as soon as my coffee finishes brewing). Hopefully the helmet camera will work better today.

i like me some Matisyahu, that line is crazy...looks like you made the smart decision to get OUT when you did!

I have never seen cars backed up that far, but I don't go on during the holidays either.

I was there this weekend also, and skiied Sunday and Monday. Surprisingly enough, Sunday's crowds were not quite as bad as Monday! We were able to park up top both days. Yes, the snow was nice, but I did NOT enjoy the guns blowing all morning! Especially at the bottom, I couldn't see a thing at first. Then, I figured out to ski under the guns where you don't get blasted so badly!



I probably watched you go down Mogul Ridge, as I saw the guy all dressed in red ski down several times. I was watching everyone ski it to help me decide if I should try it...but I never got quite brave enough as it looked icy to me. I am fine (for the most part) skiing Upper OMG at Cat, but this looked a little more challenging? The other side of the lift was very nice though....I wondered about the area above it where they are blowing snow, but it's not ready yet...what's up there??? Anohter blue or a black??



I'll post pics as soon as my niece sends them to me. I'll have to try to post them from Facebook and those of you that know me, know that is going to be a challenge!!!!!

Zeus, we left about the same time you did, and I couldn't believe the cars trying to get up the hill!!! Of course the traffic also stopped going the other way not too far past where the uphill traffic ended!! It took FOREVER to get to that light at the bottom!!

Angel, Mogul Ridge is a little tougher than Upper OMG, IMO. The run above that is Ober Chute. It's a blue and is about on par with Upper Bear that's on the other side of Mogul Ridge.

other than the holiday crowds, every year in Gatlinburg there is a youth Christian rally between christmas and new years and it brings a large crowd. thats part of the reason for the flood of people.